JESSE JAMES, younger brother of Frank James, had now emerged from the awkwardness of youth. He was scarcely thirteen years of age, while Frank was four years older. The war made them Guerrillas. Jesse was at home with his stepfather, Dr. Reuben Samuels, of Clay County. He knew nothing of the strife1 save the echoes of it now and then as it reached his mother’s isolated2 farm. One day a company of militia3 visited this farm, hanged Dr. Samuels to a tree until he was left for dead, and seized upon Jesse, a mere4 boy in the fields plowing5, put a rope about his neck and abused him harshly, pricking6 him with sabers, and finally threatening him with death should they ever again hear of his giving aid or information to the Guerrillas. That same week his mother and sisters were arrested, carried to St. Joseph and thrown into a filthy7 prison, where the hardships they endured were dreadful. Often without adequate food, insulted by sentinels who neither understood nor cared to learn the first lesson of a soldier—courtesy to women—cut off from all communication with the world, the sister was brought near to death’s door from a fever which followed the punishment, while the mother—a high spirited and courageous8 matron—was released only after suffering and emaciation9 had aged10 her in her prime. Before Mrs. Samuels returned to her home,132 Jesse had joined Frank in the camp of Quantrell, who had preceded him a few years, and who had already, notwithstanding the briefness of his service, made a name for supreme12 and conspicuous13 daring. Jesse James had a face as smooth and innocent as the face of a school girl. The blue eyes, very clear and penetrating14, were never at rest. His form, tall and finely moulded—was capable of great effort and great endurance. On his lips there was always a smile, and for every comrade a pleasant word or a compliment. Looking at the small white hands with their long, tapering15 fingers, it was not then written or recorded that they were to become with a revolver among the quickest and deadliest hands in the West. Frank was four years older, and somewhat taller than Jesse. Jesse’s face was something of an oval; Frank’s was long, wide about the forehead, square and massive about the jaw16 and chin, and set always in a look of fixed17 repose18. Jesse laughed at many things; Frank laughed not at all. Jesse was light hearted, reckless, devil-may-care; Frank sober, sedate19, a splendid man always for ambush20 or scouting21 parties.
Scott had to come back from the South and, eager for action, crossed the Missouri River at Sibley May 20, 1863, taking with him twelve men. Frank James and James Little led the advance. Beyond the river thirteen miles, and at the house of Moses McCoy, the Guerrillas camped, concocting22 a plan whereby the133 Federal garrison23 at Richfield, numbering thirty, might be got at and worsted.
Captain Sessions was in command at Richfield, and his grave had already been dug. Scott found a friendly citizen named Peter Mahoney who volunteered to do the decoy work. He loaded up a wagon24 with wood, clothed himself in the roughest and raggedest clothes he had, and rumbled25 away behind as scrawny and fidgety a yoke26 of oxen as ever felt a north wind in the winter bite their bones, or deceptive27 buckeye in the spring swell28 their body.
“Mr. Mahoney, what is the news?” This was the greeting he got.
“No news, I have wood for sale. Yes, there is some news, too. I like to have forgot. Eight or ten of those Quantrell men are prowling about my way, the infernal scoundrels, and I hope they may be hunted out of the country.”
Mahoney did well, but Scott did better. He secreted29 his men three miles from Richfield, and near the crossing of a bridge. If an enemy came the bridge was a sentinel—its resounding30 planks31, the explosion of a musket32. Scott, with eight men, dismounted and lay close along the road. Gregg, with Fletch Taylor, James Little and Joe Hart, mounted and ready to charge, kept still and expectant fifty yards in the rear in ambush. Presently at the crossing a dull booming was heard, and the Guerrillas knew that Sessions134 had bit at the bait Mahoney offered. A sudden clinking along the line—the eight were in a hurry.
“Be still,” said Scott; “You cock too soon. I had rather have two cool men than ten impatient ones.”
The Federals came right onward33; they rode along gaily34 in front of the ambuscade; they had no skirmishers out and they were doomed35. The leading files were abreast36 of Scott on the right when he ordered a volley, and Sessions, Lieutenant37 Graffenstein and seven privates fell dead. What was left of the Federal array turned itself into a rout38; Gregg, Taylor, Little, and Hart thundered down to the charge. Scott mounted again, and altogether and away at a rush, pursuers and pursued dashed into Richfield. The remnant of the wreck39 surrendered, and Scott, more merciful than many among whom he soldiered, spared the prisoners and paroled them.
House Occupied by Women Light of Love
Four miles from Independence, and a little back from the road leading to Kansas City, stood a house occupied by several women light of love. Thither40 regularly went Federal soldiers from the Independence garrison, and the drinking was deep and the orgies shameful41. Gregg set a trap to catch a few of the comers and goers. Within the lines of the enemy much circumspection42 was required to make an envelopment43 of the house successful. Jesse James was chosen from among the number of volunteers and sent forward to135 reconnoiter the premises44. Jesse, arrayed in coquettish female apparel, with his smooth face, blue eyes, and blooming cheeks, looked the image of a bashful country girl, not yet acquainted with vice11, though half eager and half reluctant to walk a step nearer to the edge of its perilous45 precipice46. As he mounted, woman fashion, upon a fiery47 horse, the wind blew all about his peach colored face the pink ribbons of a garish48 bonnet49 and lifted the tell-tale riding habit just enough to reveal instead of laced shoes or gaiters, the muddy boots of a born cavalryman50. Gregg, taking twelve men, followed in the rear of James to within a half a mile of the nearest picket52 post and hid in the woods until word could be brought from the bagnio ahead. If by a certain hour the disguised Guerilla did not return to his comrades, the pickets53 were to be driven in, the house surrounded, and the inmates54 forced to give such information as they possessed55, of his whereabouts.
Jesse James, having pointed56 out to him with tolerable accuracy the direction of the house, left the road, skirted the timber rapidly, leaped several ravines, floundered over a few marshy57 places and finally reached his destination without meeting a citizen or encountering an enemy. He would not dismount, but sat upon his horse at the fence and asked that the mistress of the establishment might come out to him. Little by little, and with many gawky protests and many a bashful simper, he told a plausible58 story of136 parental59 espionage60 and family discipline. He, ostensibly a she, could not have a beau, could not go with the soldiers, could not sit with them late, nor ride with them, nor romp61 with them. She was tired of it all and wanted a little fun. Would the mistress let her come to her house occasionally and bring some of the neighborhood girls with her, who were in the same predicament? The mistress laughed and was glad. New faces to her were like new coin, and she put forth62 a hand and patted the merchantable thing upon the knee, and ogled63 her smiling mouth and girlish features gleefully. As the she-wolf and venturesome lamb separated, the assignation was assured. That night the amorous64 country girl, accompanied by three of her female companions, was to return, and the mistress, confident of her ability to provide lovers was to make known among the soldiers the attractive acquisition.
It lacked an hour of sunset when Jesse James got back to Gregg; an hour after sunset the Guerrillas, following hard upon the tracks made by the boy spy, rode rapidly on to keep the trysting place. The house was aglow65 with lights and jubilant with laughter. Drink abounded66, and under cover of the clinking glasses, the men kissed the women. Anticipating the orgy of unusual attraction, twelve Federals had been lured67 out from the garrison and made to believe that barefoot maidens68 ran wild in the woods and buxom137 lasses hid for the hunting. No guards were out; no sentinels posted. Jesse James crept close to a window and peered in. The night was chilly69 and a large wood fire blazed upon a large hearth70. All the company were in one room, five women and a dozen men. Scattered71 about, yet ready for the grasping, the cavalry51 carbines were in easy reach, and the revolvers handy about the persons. Sampson trusting everything to Delilah, might not have trusted so much if under the old dispensation there had been anything of bushwhacking.
Gregg loved everybody who wore the gray, and what exercised him most was the question just now of attack. Should he demand a surrender? Jesse James, the boy, said no to the veteran. Twelve men inside the house, and the house inside their own lines where reinforcements might be hurried quickly to them, would surely hold their own against eleven outside, if indeed they did not make it worse. The best thing to do was to fire through the windows and kill what could be killed by a carbine volley, then rush through the door and finish, under the cover of the smoke, horror and panic, those who should survive the broadside.
JESSE JAMES GOING TO HOUSE OF LIGHT OF LOVE
Luckily the women sat in a corner to themselves and close to a large bed fixed to the wall and to the right of the fireplace. On the side of the house the bed was on, two broad windows opened low upon the138 ground, and between the windows there was a door, not ajar, but not fastened. Gregg, with five men, went to the upper window, and Taylor, with four, took possession of the lower. The women were out of immediate72 range. The house shook; the glass shivered, the door was hurled73 backward, there was a hot stifling74 crash of revolvers; and on the dresses of the women and the white coverlet of the bed great red splotches. Eight out of the twelve fell dead or wounded at the first fire; after the last fire all were dead. It was a spectacle ghastly beyond any ever witnessed by the Guerrillas, because so circumscribed75. Piled two deep the dead men lay, one with a glass grasped tightly in his stiffened76 fingers, and one in his shut hand the picture of a woman scantily77 clad. How they wept, the poor, painted things, for the slain78 soldiers, and how they blasphemed; but Gregg tarried not, neither did he make atonement. As they lay there heaped where they fell and piled together, so they lay still when he mounted and rode away.
* * * * *
In the three months preceding the Lawrence massacre79, over two hundred citizens were killed and their property burned or stolen. In mid-winter houses were burned by the hundred and whole neighborhoods devastated80 and laid waste. Aroused as he had never been before, Quantrell meditated81 a terrible vengeance82.
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1
strife
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| n.争吵，冲突，倾轧，竞争 | |
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isolated
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| adj.与世隔绝的 | |
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militia
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| n.民兵，民兵组织 | |
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mere
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| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
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plowing
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| v.耕( plow的现在分词 )；犁耕；费力穿过 | |
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pricking
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| 刺，刺痕，刺痛感 | |
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filthy
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| adj.卑劣的；恶劣的，肮脏的 | |
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courageous
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| adj.勇敢的，有胆量的 | |
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emaciation
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| n.消瘦，憔悴，衰弱 | |
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aged
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| adj.年老的，陈年的 | |
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vice
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| n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的 | |
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supreme
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| adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的 | |
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conspicuous
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| adj.明眼的，惹人注目的；炫耀的，摆阔气的 | |
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penetrating
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| adj.（声音）响亮的，尖锐的adj.（气味）刺激的adj.（思想）敏锐的，有洞察力的 | |
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tapering
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| adj.尖端细的 | |
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jaw
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| n.颚，颌，说教，流言蜚语；v.喋喋不休，教训 | |
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fixed
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| adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的 | |
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repose
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| v.(使)休息；n.安息 | |
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sedate
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| adj.沉着的，镇静的，安静的 | |
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ambush
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| n.埋伏(地点)；伏兵；v.埋伏；伏击 | |
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scouting
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| 守候活动，童子军的活动 | |
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concocting
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| v.将（尤指通常不相配合的）成分混合成某物( concoct的现在分词 )；调制；编造；捏造 | |
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garrison
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| n.卫戍部队；驻地，卫戍区；vt.派(兵)驻防 | |
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wagon
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| n.四轮马车，手推车，面包车；无盖运货列车 | |
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rumbled
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| 发出隆隆声，发出辘辘声( rumble的过去式和过去分词 )； 轰鸣着缓慢行进； 发现…的真相； 看穿（阴谋） | |
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yoke
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| n.轭；支配；v.给...上轭，连接，使成配偶 | |
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deceptive
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| adj.骗人的，造成假象的，靠不住的 | |
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swell
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| vi.膨胀，肿胀；增长，增强 | |
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secreted
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| v.（尤指动物或植物器官）分泌( secrete的过去式和过去分词 )；隐匿，隐藏 | |
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resounding
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| adj. 响亮的 | |
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planks
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| （厚）木板( plank的名词复数 )； 政纲条目，政策要点 | |
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musket
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| n.滑膛枪 | |
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onward
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| adj.向前的，前进的；adv.向前，前进，在先 | |
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gaily
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| adv.欢乐地，高兴地 | |
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doomed
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| 命定的 | |
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abreast
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| adv.并排地；跟上(时代)的步伐，与…并进地 | |
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lieutenant
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| n.陆军中尉，海军上尉；代理官员，副职官员 | |
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rout
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| n.溃退，溃败；v.击溃，打垮 | |
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wreck
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| n.失事，遇难；沉船；vt.(船等)失事，遇难 | |
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40
thither
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| adv.向那里；adj.在那边的，对岸的 | |
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shameful
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| adj.可耻的，不道德的 | |
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42
circumspection
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| n.细心，慎重 | |
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envelopment
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| n.包封，封套 | |
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premises
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| n.建筑物，房屋 | |
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45
perilous
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| adj.危险的，冒险的 | |
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46
precipice
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| n.悬崖，危急的处境 | |
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47
fiery
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| adj.燃烧着的，火红的；暴躁的；激烈的 | |
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garish
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| adj.华丽而俗气的，华而不实的 | |
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bonnet
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| n.无边女帽；童帽 | |
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50
cavalryman
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| 骑兵 | |
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cavalry
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| n.骑兵；轻装甲部队 | |
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52
picket
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| n.纠察队；警戒哨；v.设置纠察线；布置警卫 | |
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53
pickets
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| 罢工纠察员( picket的名词复数 ) | |
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inmates
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| n.囚犯( inmate的名词复数 ) | |
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55
possessed
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| adj.疯狂的；拥有的，占有的 | |
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pointed
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| adj.尖的，直截了当的 | |
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marshy
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| adj.沼泽的 | |
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plausible
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| adj.似真实的，似乎有理的，似乎可信的 | |
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parental
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| adj.父母的；父的；母的 | |
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espionage
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| n.间谍行为，谍报活动 | |
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romp
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| n.欢闹；v.嬉闹玩笑 | |
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forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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ogled
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| v.（向…）抛媚眼，送秋波( ogle的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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amorous
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| adj.多情的；有关爱情的 | |
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aglow
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| adj.发亮的；发红的；adv.发亮地 | |
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abounded
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| v.大量存在，充满，富于( abound的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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lured
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| 吸引，引诱（lure的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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maidens
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| 处女( maiden的名词复数 )； 少女； 未婚女子； （板球运动）未得分的一轮投球 | |
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chilly
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| adj.凉快的，寒冷的 | |
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hearth
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| n.壁炉炉床，壁炉地面 | |
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scattered
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| adj.分散的，稀疏的；散步的；疏疏落落的 | |
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immediate
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| adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的 | |
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hurled
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| v.猛投，用力掷( hurl的过去式和过去分词 )；大声叫骂 | |
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stifling
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| a.令人窒息的 | |
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circumscribed
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| adj.[医]局限的：受限制或限于有限空间的v.在…周围划线( circumscribe的过去式和过去分词 )；划定…范围；限制；限定 | |
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stiffened
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| 加强的 | |
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scantily
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| adv.缺乏地；不充足地；吝啬地；狭窄地 | |
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slain
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| 杀死，宰杀，杀戮( slay的过去分词 )； (slay的过去分词) | |
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massacre
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| n.残杀，大屠杀；v.残杀，集体屠杀 | |
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devastated
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| v.彻底破坏( devastate的过去式和过去分词)；摧毁；毁灭；在感情上（精神上、财务上等）压垮adj.毁坏的；极为震惊的 | |
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81
meditated
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| 深思，沉思，冥想( meditate的过去式和过去分词 )； 内心策划，考虑 | |
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vengeance
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| n.报复，报仇，复仇 | |
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